1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shipping containers, in particular shipping containers that are fabricated at least in part from paper, paperboard and/or corrugated paperboard material. The present invention also relates to such containers that are: 1) erected as a wraparound sheet around the group of products being packaged, with the group of products being placed on the blank forming the wrapper before articulation has begun, or at least well before articulation of the container has been completed; 2) erected as a tray, wherein the flat blank is formed into a tray container having the minor flaps adhered to the side panels; or 3) partially erected as a U-shaped receptacle form, wherein a group of products being packaged will be placed within the U-shaped form before the articulation of the minor flaps and the adhesion of the side panel combined with the articulation of the top panel and glue lap being adhesively affixed to the side panel.
2. The Prior Art
For various reasons, it is often desirable to provide a packaging system and resulting container, in which the blank from which the container is to be formed is either not yet articulated, or is only partially articulated, prior to placement of the goods to be packaged on or in the unformed or partially formed blank. Such containers are often referred to as wraps or wraparound cartons.
One such reason for such an approach, is when the goods to be packaged have a certain inherent stacking strength, such as nested canned goods, wherein the resultant wrap need not bear the entire load, when loaded ones of such cartons are stacked. In such constructions, the use of a wrap container configuration enables a minimum amount of container material to be used.
Interestingly, another environment in which wraparound style containers are used is when the goods to be contained are particularly fragile.
For example, it has become popular to package certain meat articles, which are generally known to be particularly perishable and prone to spoilage and contamination, in a vacuum-packed plastic bag, and then frozen, for shipment and storage. The vacuum-packed plastic bag closely follows the contours of the food item, so that no air is trapped. This helps prevent the occurrence of oxidation of the meat product, and generally improves the overall condition of the food product.
Unfortunately, some meat articles, particularly those still having the bone in place after processing (such as pork loins), are problematic to package in such vacuum-packed plastic bags. This is because the often rather sharp-edged bones in the food product have substantial potential for puncturing or cutting through the bag.
Due to such fragility, it is important to ensure that the food product is handled carefully, and packaged in a manner that is less likely to subject the package to stresses that might result in puncture of the bags, and thus contamination of the goods.
It has been found that the tray, tray wrapper or wraparound container is one of the more useful methods for addressing such a situation, because the goods (food product) is not pushed, lowered or dropped into an already substantially fully erected container. Instead the container is formed around the goods to be packaged.
However, unlike wrapper or wraparound containers for substantially self-supporting products like stacked cans, which permit the use of wraparound constructions of reduced material content, it is desirable to provide a wraparound container design that is more robust, without the use of excessive container material in the blank.
This and other desirable characteristics of the present invention will become apparent in view of the present specification and drawings.